Groundhog Daze
Rev. Bill Freeman
February 7, 2021
www.BillFreeman.org
Maybe you’ve seen this online. The diary of a dog and the diary of a cat. The dog’s diary says things like: Time to eat, my favorite thing! Time to go for a walk, my favorite thing! Time to take a nap, my favorite thing! Time to welcome my master home, my favorite thing. Time to go to bed, my favorite thing! The cat’s diary says things like: Day 983 of my captivity. My captors taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. I try killing my captors by weaving in and out of their feet when they walk, hoping they'll fall and break their necks, but no such luck. My fellow captor, the dog, seems to like it here – idiot. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape.
The way that cat feels about being held captive for 983 days is probably the way many of us feel about being held captive by the Coronavirus. We’ve been held captive for about 325 days since the pandemic began last March. For most of that time…
- We’ve self-quarantined, working from home if our job allowed,
- We’ve eaten outside restaurants, if that was allowed, or ordered takeout or delivery,
- We’ve worn masks in public,
- We’ve washed our hands frequently,
- And we’ve social distanced from strangers and from our loved ones.
Hope is on the horizon thank goodness with a couple of vaccines that seem to be working.
But for the past 10 months or so, probably most if not all of us have felt like Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day, where he lived the same day over and over and over again, which also seems to be happening to us. Kathleen and I watched Groundhog Day this past week on Groundhog Day, February 2. What a great movie, with many great scenes. Perhaps my favorite scene is when Andie McDowell tells Bill Murray: You don't love anybody but yourself! And Bill Murray replies: That's not true, I don't even like myself. By the way, the groundhog did see its shadow, on Groundhog Day, which means 6 more weeks of winter or it means Spring will be here in about a month and a half. So hold on.
Jesus promises to help us in times like these. According to the Christian New Testament, in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says: Come to me, all you who are weary and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. I hope many people have rested in Jesus during this pandemic. Because we all need rest.
It’s like when Jesus went to Mary and Martha’s house. Mary rested or sat at Jesus's feet, hanging on his every word. (Like Kathleen does with me. HA!) Martha meanwhile busied herself around the house, presumably serving hors d’oeuvres and drinks, and tidying up. Martha resented Mary not helping her. So she pleaded with Jesus to get Mary to help her around the house. But Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” In other words, Mary had found rest in Jesus. Martha, a Martha Stewart type person, would probably never find heavenly rest.
Hopefully people found heavenly rest during this coronavirus. What do we mean by heavenly rest? I suppose we mean finding your happy place and staying there for a while. Your happy place may be sitting on the beach watching a sunset over the Pacific ocean or over Lake Michigan, or sitting and watching a sunrise over the Atlantic ocean. People can find their happy place everywhere. Walking in the woods. Sitting on a park bench. Or taking a nap. Maybe the key is finding your happy place within. Like the Scripture says: Be still and know that I am God. In these hectic times it's not always easy to: Be still and know that I am God. But let’s say you are able to: Be still and know that I am God. What do you know? Well, it seems to me you know that God is in charge, even during a pandemic, especially during a pandemic. So all we can do is: Let go and let God, as they say. We're not in control. God is. So why didn't God stop the pandemic? That's probably above my pay grade. But maybe God wanted us to take care of the pandemic ourselves. And I guess you could say America has. America voted out a president who responded ineptly to the pandemic, who never had empathy for the victims of the pandemic, and who never really had a plan to end the pandemic. He did push for a vaccine, but scientists and researchers were already pushing for a vaccine. Then America elected a president who has taking the pandemic seriously, who has empathy for the victims of the pandemic, and who has a plan for ending the pandemic. That may be why the new president’s poll numbers are at 61% approval. And 61% approval in today's America, where people are divided over just about everything, including wearing a mask to stop the pandemic. Hopefully all that is now going on allows people to have heavenly rest.
The Bible seems to say things like the pandemic just happen. According to the Hebrew Scriptures, in the Book of Ecclesiastes, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time for war, and a time for peace.” Hopefully we find more time for peace than for war. But it's true that there does seem to be a time for everything, whether we like it or not.
It’s like when Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. It was a time for freedom. And God was with them, according to the Scriptures. So when Moses and the Israelites came upon and impossible obstacle, the Red Sea, God allowed Moses to part the waters and the Israelites made it across to freedom. The point being God will get rid of every obstacle in our way as we travel through life. At least that's the hope. Maybe even with the coronavirus. The vaccine may be seen as God parting the waters allowing us to make it across to freedom.
What do we mean by freedom? Well, Merriam Webster defines freedom as the absence of coercion in action and the presence of choice in action. In other words, we can do what we want…within reason. We have freedom of speech, but we don't have the freedom to shout fire in a crowded theater when there is no fire. (But it's OK to shout fire in a crowded theater if there is a fire.) We have the freedom to drive our car, but we don't have the freedom to drive our car 100 miles an hour through downtown. (Unless you're a cop chasing a bank robbery suspect.) We have the freedom to raise a family, but we don't have the freedom to abuse our children and our spouse. So we have freedom, coupled with responsibility. Freedom is a beautiful thing. No one telling you what to do. No one telling you what not to do. Having the right to do as you choose. As long as you don't hurt others. People always have the freedom to help others. Usually cities or states have Good Samaritan laws, where you have the freedom to help others without fear of being sued for helping others. It takes courage to exercise freedom. Because freedom sometimes means sticking your neck out. So it takes freedom and courage to march for peace, because some people don't like to see other people marching for peace. It takes courage and freedom to march for Black Lives Matter, because some people don't like to see people marching for Black Lives Matter. They think that by marching for Black Lives Matter, that you're saying that blue lives don't matter or that white lives don't matter. Or maybe they're just saying that they don't believe black lives matter. Which is why sometimes it takes freedom and courage to say yes Black Lives Matter.
We have to be tough to make it past this pandemic. Actress Julie Andrews understands that. Julie Andrews says, “Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.” So we just have to persevere. It's like Julie Andrews did in “The Sound Of Music.” Julie Andrews and the von Trapp family had to persevere and flee Austria and the Hitler regime. So they sang for their neighbors and the Nazis and made their escape at the end of their performance. And then they had to persevere as they climbed over the mountains to freedom. And they did persevere. As we have to during this coronavirus.
How can people manage to persevere? We have to be strong. You can't persevere if you're weak, or afraid, or if you lose focus. We have to persevere during this pandemic. And many people have persevered. Unfortunately we're coming up on nearly half-a-million people who have lost their lives during this pandemic. Nurses and doctors of had to persevere just to make it day-to-day, because they see people dying all around them. Sometimes their own colleagues, their fellow nurses or their fellow doctors. It must be almost like a war zone, combat zone, where the best they can do is triage, where they prioritize people with coronavirus and help those who have a chance of survival. I can only imagine how difficult it is to persevere if you seen other people die from the coronavirus. Or if your own family members and loved ones have died from the coronavirus. And died alone, without having loved ones close by. This pandemic makes it hard to persevere. Especially when you're ready to give up. The good news is help is on the way. There are a couple of vaccines and more on the way. People seem to be taking the coronavirus more seriously and wearing masks and social distancing. And now we have a president who is an embarrassed or ashamed or afraid of being ridiculed for wearing a mask. And he's asking people to wear a mask for 100 days, because the experts, the scientists, the researchers say wearing a mask and social distancing can help save your life and save the lives of those around you. It was unconscionable for the previous president to make it seem like people were weak if they wore a mask. They say if he had taken the coronavirus seriously, listen to the experts, the scientists, tens of thousands of lives would've been saved. Instead he called the coronavirus a hoax, which led to his followers calling the coronavirus a hoax. Nurses told of helping patients with the coronavirus and telling them that they were dying of the coronavirus, and the patient would say, no the coronavirus is a hoax. It's crazy. I saw a story about a grocery store in Florida I think were the owner said he doesn't require people to wear masks because he doesn't believe the coronavirus is real. We all have to persevere through such nonsense.
I saw on the news the other day. Anti-vaccine people protested at a vaccination site in Los Angeles, at Dodger Stadium, which resulted in a one hour delay of people getting vaccinated. It was ignorance on display. A bunch of anti-science wackos. They’re the type of people who believe the earth is flat, that the earth is 6,000 years old based on the Bible, and that the moon landing actually took place in a studio at NBC in New York. These anti-vaxxers are in “liberal” California, where I’ve learned that people aren’t as liberal as you might think. Meanwhile, more enlightened people, wait in line places like dodger Stadium to get their vaccination to ward off the coronavirus. It might be a monotonous five hour wait, but people are determined to do it.
Cicely Tyson, who died recently, did not live a life of monotony. She made sure of that. Her first job was as a secretary at the Red Cross. Her first day on the job was her co-worker’s last day on the job. Her coworker had been there for 30 years. And they held a little ceremony in which her coworker was given a gold watch. Cicely Tyson said: I'm not gonna work here for 30 years and end up just getting a gold watch. So she said she went out and bought herself a gold watch. And then she became one of America's greatest actors.
What do you do to make sure you don't live a life of monotony, even if you've been cooped up at home for months because of the coronavirus? If you have a job, I hope it's a job that gives you fulfillment, a job that allows you to use your creativity, a job that lifts your spirit, and doesn't drag down your soul. If you're retired, I hope you do things that give you fulfillment, things that allow you to use your creativity, things that lift your spirit and don't drag down your soul. If you're a student, I hope your studies give you fulfillment, I hope they allow you to use your creativity, I hope they lift your spirit, and don't drag down your soul. In other words, whatever you do with your life, I hope you live life fully alive. I know that's not always possible. I know people have to work at a job that may not give them fulfillment, that may not allow them to use their creativity, that may not lift their spirits, and does drag down their soul. In which case I hope their home life allows them to live life fully alive. Because I believe that every life has to have some aspect to it that allows people to live life fully alive. Otherwise they'll feel like that cat, held captive.
(This Text was the basis for this week’s Sermon.)
Rev. Bill Freeman
February 7, 2021
www.BillFreeman.org
Maybe you’ve seen this online. The diary of a dog and the diary of a cat. The dog’s diary says things like: Time to eat, my favorite thing! Time to go for a walk, my favorite thing! Time to take a nap, my favorite thing! Time to welcome my master home, my favorite thing. Time to go to bed, my favorite thing! The cat’s diary says things like: Day 983 of my captivity. My captors taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. I try killing my captors by weaving in and out of their feet when they walk, hoping they'll fall and break their necks, but no such luck. My fellow captor, the dog, seems to like it here – idiot. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape.
The way that cat feels about being held captive for 983 days is probably the way many of us feel about being held captive by the Coronavirus. We’ve been held captive for about 325 days since the pandemic began last March. For most of that time…
- We’ve self-quarantined, working from home if our job allowed,
- We’ve eaten outside restaurants, if that was allowed, or ordered takeout or delivery,
- We’ve worn masks in public,
- We’ve washed our hands frequently,
- And we’ve social distanced from strangers and from our loved ones.
Hope is on the horizon thank goodness with a couple of vaccines that seem to be working.
But for the past 10 months or so, probably most if not all of us have felt like Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day, where he lived the same day over and over and over again, which also seems to be happening to us. Kathleen and I watched Groundhog Day this past week on Groundhog Day, February 2. What a great movie, with many great scenes. Perhaps my favorite scene is when Andie McDowell tells Bill Murray: You don't love anybody but yourself! And Bill Murray replies: That's not true, I don't even like myself. By the way, the groundhog did see its shadow, on Groundhog Day, which means 6 more weeks of winter or it means Spring will be here in about a month and a half. So hold on.
Jesus promises to help us in times like these. According to the Christian New Testament, in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says: Come to me, all you who are weary and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. I hope many people have rested in Jesus during this pandemic. Because we all need rest.
It’s like when Jesus went to Mary and Martha’s house. Mary rested or sat at Jesus's feet, hanging on his every word. (Like Kathleen does with me. HA!) Martha meanwhile busied herself around the house, presumably serving hors d’oeuvres and drinks, and tidying up. Martha resented Mary not helping her. So she pleaded with Jesus to get Mary to help her around the house. But Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” In other words, Mary had found rest in Jesus. Martha, a Martha Stewart type person, would probably never find heavenly rest.
Hopefully people found heavenly rest during this coronavirus. What do we mean by heavenly rest? I suppose we mean finding your happy place and staying there for a while. Your happy place may be sitting on the beach watching a sunset over the Pacific ocean or over Lake Michigan, or sitting and watching a sunrise over the Atlantic ocean. People can find their happy place everywhere. Walking in the woods. Sitting on a park bench. Or taking a nap. Maybe the key is finding your happy place within. Like the Scripture says: Be still and know that I am God. In these hectic times it's not always easy to: Be still and know that I am God. But let’s say you are able to: Be still and know that I am God. What do you know? Well, it seems to me you know that God is in charge, even during a pandemic, especially during a pandemic. So all we can do is: Let go and let God, as they say. We're not in control. God is. So why didn't God stop the pandemic? That's probably above my pay grade. But maybe God wanted us to take care of the pandemic ourselves. And I guess you could say America has. America voted out a president who responded ineptly to the pandemic, who never had empathy for the victims of the pandemic, and who never really had a plan to end the pandemic. He did push for a vaccine, but scientists and researchers were already pushing for a vaccine. Then America elected a president who has taking the pandemic seriously, who has empathy for the victims of the pandemic, and who has a plan for ending the pandemic. That may be why the new president’s poll numbers are at 61% approval. And 61% approval in today's America, where people are divided over just about everything, including wearing a mask to stop the pandemic. Hopefully all that is now going on allows people to have heavenly rest.
The Bible seems to say things like the pandemic just happen. According to the Hebrew Scriptures, in the Book of Ecclesiastes, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time for war, and a time for peace.” Hopefully we find more time for peace than for war. But it's true that there does seem to be a time for everything, whether we like it or not.
It’s like when Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. It was a time for freedom. And God was with them, according to the Scriptures. So when Moses and the Israelites came upon and impossible obstacle, the Red Sea, God allowed Moses to part the waters and the Israelites made it across to freedom. The point being God will get rid of every obstacle in our way as we travel through life. At least that's the hope. Maybe even with the coronavirus. The vaccine may be seen as God parting the waters allowing us to make it across to freedom.
What do we mean by freedom? Well, Merriam Webster defines freedom as the absence of coercion in action and the presence of choice in action. In other words, we can do what we want…within reason. We have freedom of speech, but we don't have the freedom to shout fire in a crowded theater when there is no fire. (But it's OK to shout fire in a crowded theater if there is a fire.) We have the freedom to drive our car, but we don't have the freedom to drive our car 100 miles an hour through downtown. (Unless you're a cop chasing a bank robbery suspect.) We have the freedom to raise a family, but we don't have the freedom to abuse our children and our spouse. So we have freedom, coupled with responsibility. Freedom is a beautiful thing. No one telling you what to do. No one telling you what not to do. Having the right to do as you choose. As long as you don't hurt others. People always have the freedom to help others. Usually cities or states have Good Samaritan laws, where you have the freedom to help others without fear of being sued for helping others. It takes courage to exercise freedom. Because freedom sometimes means sticking your neck out. So it takes freedom and courage to march for peace, because some people don't like to see other people marching for peace. It takes courage and freedom to march for Black Lives Matter, because some people don't like to see people marching for Black Lives Matter. They think that by marching for Black Lives Matter, that you're saying that blue lives don't matter or that white lives don't matter. Or maybe they're just saying that they don't believe black lives matter. Which is why sometimes it takes freedom and courage to say yes Black Lives Matter.
We have to be tough to make it past this pandemic. Actress Julie Andrews understands that. Julie Andrews says, “Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.” So we just have to persevere. It's like Julie Andrews did in “The Sound Of Music.” Julie Andrews and the von Trapp family had to persevere and flee Austria and the Hitler regime. So they sang for their neighbors and the Nazis and made their escape at the end of their performance. And then they had to persevere as they climbed over the mountains to freedom. And they did persevere. As we have to during this coronavirus.
How can people manage to persevere? We have to be strong. You can't persevere if you're weak, or afraid, or if you lose focus. We have to persevere during this pandemic. And many people have persevered. Unfortunately we're coming up on nearly half-a-million people who have lost their lives during this pandemic. Nurses and doctors of had to persevere just to make it day-to-day, because they see people dying all around them. Sometimes their own colleagues, their fellow nurses or their fellow doctors. It must be almost like a war zone, combat zone, where the best they can do is triage, where they prioritize people with coronavirus and help those who have a chance of survival. I can only imagine how difficult it is to persevere if you seen other people die from the coronavirus. Or if your own family members and loved ones have died from the coronavirus. And died alone, without having loved ones close by. This pandemic makes it hard to persevere. Especially when you're ready to give up. The good news is help is on the way. There are a couple of vaccines and more on the way. People seem to be taking the coronavirus more seriously and wearing masks and social distancing. And now we have a president who is an embarrassed or ashamed or afraid of being ridiculed for wearing a mask. And he's asking people to wear a mask for 100 days, because the experts, the scientists, the researchers say wearing a mask and social distancing can help save your life and save the lives of those around you. It was unconscionable for the previous president to make it seem like people were weak if they wore a mask. They say if he had taken the coronavirus seriously, listen to the experts, the scientists, tens of thousands of lives would've been saved. Instead he called the coronavirus a hoax, which led to his followers calling the coronavirus a hoax. Nurses told of helping patients with the coronavirus and telling them that they were dying of the coronavirus, and the patient would say, no the coronavirus is a hoax. It's crazy. I saw a story about a grocery store in Florida I think were the owner said he doesn't require people to wear masks because he doesn't believe the coronavirus is real. We all have to persevere through such nonsense.
I saw on the news the other day. Anti-vaccine people protested at a vaccination site in Los Angeles, at Dodger Stadium, which resulted in a one hour delay of people getting vaccinated. It was ignorance on display. A bunch of anti-science wackos. They’re the type of people who believe the earth is flat, that the earth is 6,000 years old based on the Bible, and that the moon landing actually took place in a studio at NBC in New York. These anti-vaxxers are in “liberal” California, where I’ve learned that people aren’t as liberal as you might think. Meanwhile, more enlightened people, wait in line places like dodger Stadium to get their vaccination to ward off the coronavirus. It might be a monotonous five hour wait, but people are determined to do it.
Cicely Tyson, who died recently, did not live a life of monotony. She made sure of that. Her first job was as a secretary at the Red Cross. Her first day on the job was her co-worker’s last day on the job. Her coworker had been there for 30 years. And they held a little ceremony in which her coworker was given a gold watch. Cicely Tyson said: I'm not gonna work here for 30 years and end up just getting a gold watch. So she said she went out and bought herself a gold watch. And then she became one of America's greatest actors.
What do you do to make sure you don't live a life of monotony, even if you've been cooped up at home for months because of the coronavirus? If you have a job, I hope it's a job that gives you fulfillment, a job that allows you to use your creativity, a job that lifts your spirit, and doesn't drag down your soul. If you're retired, I hope you do things that give you fulfillment, things that allow you to use your creativity, things that lift your spirit and don't drag down your soul. If you're a student, I hope your studies give you fulfillment, I hope they allow you to use your creativity, I hope they lift your spirit, and don't drag down your soul. In other words, whatever you do with your life, I hope you live life fully alive. I know that's not always possible. I know people have to work at a job that may not give them fulfillment, that may not allow them to use their creativity, that may not lift their spirits, and does drag down their soul. In which case I hope their home life allows them to live life fully alive. Because I believe that every life has to have some aspect to it that allows people to live life fully alive. Otherwise they'll feel like that cat, held captive.
(This Text was the basis for this week’s Sermon.)
You Are A Spiritual Being
Rev. Bill Freeman
October 11, 2020
Bill Freeman Ministries
I was seven years old, playing by myself in our front yard, when all of a sudden I didn't feel alone. I felt the presence of something. Or someone. Over the years I’ve thought: Was that God? Was that Jesus? Was that the Spirit? I think it might've been the spirit, maybe the spirit of God. All I know is, or at least all I think I know is, there's more than what we can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. That maybe there is some thing that we might call the Spirit.
Spirits may scare some people. They may think of alcoholic spirits, like demon rum, that causes people to drive drunk and crash their car into a telephone pole. They may think of evil spirits, that enter someone’s body and makes them do evil things, the kind of evil spirits that Jesus ordered out of someone, who then left him and entered some pigs, who jumped into a body of water and drowned. They may think of ghosts, not Casper the friendly ghost, but spooky ghosts that haunt a house. Although others might say, like Ghostbusters, “I ain’t afraid of no ghost.” I don’t think we have to be afraid of the spirit.
The reason we meditate for a minute or two during our Sunday Service is to give us a chance to be in touch with our spirit, the spirit, the spirit of God. Now, you can be in touch with your spirit, the spirit, the spirit of God any time, any where. But some times it’s helpful to set aside time, during church, during your personal time, during your bed time, to listen to your deepest self, your highest self, your wisest self. Just listen. And listen some more. And then listen some more. Listen for the spirit.
A woman told me, back when I had a radio talkshow many years ago, that parents have to break the spirit of a two-year-old or the two-year-old will grow up to be a spoiled brat. Maybe because my own daughter was about two years old at the time, but I was appalled by what that woman said. Parents aren't supposed to break the spirit of a two-year-old. Parents are supposed to lift up the spirit of a two-year-old. Parents are supposed to lift up the spirit of a 10-year-old. Parents are supposed to lift up the spirit of a 16-year-old. And parents are supposed to lift up the spirit of a 22-year-old.
I don't remember who that woman was that told me that. But I'd like to know how her two-year-old turned out. My two-year-old is now 28-years-old, she just graduated from Harvard Law School, and she just took the bar exam here in California. She’s not a spoiled brat. She's a good spirit.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while the spirit of God swept over the face of the waters.”
So, according to the Hebrew Scriptures, the Book of Genesis, the spirit, the spirit of God, has been with us since the beginning of time. And the spirit of God is over the face of the waters.
Maybe that's why people are drawn to the waters. To the oceans. To the lakes. To the rivers. Because they know that the spirit of God is there. I know, it's also because they can go surfing or swimming or fishing or boating there. And it's usually cooler near the water. But it's also dangerous sometimes. Sharks are in the oceans. (That's why I don't swim in the ocean. I swim in Lake Michigan, but not in the Pacific or the Atlantic. It’s not that I like my body all that much. But I do like my body without a chunk missing from it.) Hurricanes and typhoons and tsunamis attack people near the ocean. And yet people are drawn to the ocean. Could it be because on some level they know that the spirit of God is over the face of the waters?
The spirit of God, though, is not just over the face of the waters. The spirit of God is also over the face of the land. The spirit of God is over your face. The spirit of God is over and around and through everything too. And the spirit of God is in every thing, every place. The spirit of God is in the air that we breathe. And the spirit of God is in the wind in our hair. Another word for breath, in both Hebrew and Greek, is spirit. Another word for wind, in both Hebrew and Greek, is spirit. Isn’t that cool?
I asked a guy in his 90s: What's the secret of living a long life? He said, “Keep breathing.” But of course. We know the truth of that these days, because the coronavirus tries to take peoples breath away. Not like when you see the Grand Canyon and it takes your breath away. The coronavirus wants to take your breath away: Permanently. And so far, it has taken the breath away from more than 200,000 people in America. And apparently it took the breath away, at least temporarily, from the President of the United States.
We also know the truth of that these days, because sometimes white police officers try to take black peoples breath away. As they did in the case of George Floyd. With a cop’s knee on his neck, George Floyd’s dying words were: I can’t breathe. To put it another way: George Floyd was losing his breath, his spirit. And no one should be able to take another person’s breath or spirit away. Even if they are wearing a badge.
When it was evening on the first day of the week, after Jesus was crucified, according to the Gospel of John, the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews. So the disciples were in hiding, fearing that what happened to Jesus might happen to them. Then Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
So if we missed it in the Hebrew Scriptures, that the spirit of God is on the face of the waters, and is really every place else, then Jesus tells us in the Christian New Testament that the spirit of God is within us, and is really all around us.
We say, “We Nurture People In Body, Mind, And Soul.” We say that because we are all of a piece. Our body, mind, and soul are one. They combine to make up our essence, our being, our life. They combine to make up our spirit. Jesus knew that. That’s why he nurtured his disciples in body, mind, and soul. He nurtured them in body, by sharing with them the bread and the cup at The Lord’s Supper. He nurtured them in mind, by sharing with them his teachings. And he nurtured them in soul, by sharing with them the Holy Spirit.
Churches celebrate Communion, the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper because it nurtures people in Body, Mind, and Soul. Communion nurtures people in Body. It gives them food and drink for their Body. Communion nurtures people in Mind. It gets their Mind thinking about the life of Jesus. And Communion nurtures people in Soul. It connects their Soul with Jesus’ Spirit. So you can understand why churches celebrate communion, some every month, some every week. It has the potential to lift their body, mind, and soul to higher purpose, to higher meaning, to higher ground.
Why did Jesus institute Communion? Perhaps because Jesus wanted people to know that our Body, Mind, and Soul are one. Perhaps because Jesus wanted people to know that Communion is all about community. And perhaps because Jesus wanted people to know that Communion, the nurturing of our Body, Mind, and Soul, can lead to community, our common unity. Which can lift our spirit, each of our spirits, to heights we can only imagine. Maybe each time churches celebrate communion, people hear the voice of Jesus saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a Jesuit priest and a French philosopher from the last century, says, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” That's one of my favorite quotes. Because in a nutshell that describes who we are. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
Have you ever felt filled with the spirit? When we hear stories of people who do superhuman things, like a father lifting up a car off of his child caught underneath the vehicle, science would probably say that that father was filled with adrenaline, so he could do that superhuman feat. But the religious would probably say that that father was filled with the spirit, so he could do that miraculous feat. Maybe it's a combination of the two.
You can't see the spirit. Just like you can't see love. But that doesn't mean that love is nonexistent. And it also doesn't mean that the spirit is nonexistent. Love makes us do things, hopefully good things. So love is a verb. It's an action word. In the same way, the spirit makes us do things, hopefully good things. So the spirit is a verb. It's an action word.
Maybe love and the spirit are two sides of the same coin. After all, Jesus says God is spirit, and the Bible says God is love. That's why I usually begin my prayers by saying…Let us lift our spirit —Spirit of Love known by many names: God and Goddess, Yahweh and Allah, Dios and Divine, Nature and Life.
I applied at a church once whose moderator was fairly fundamentalist. And that might be an understatement. He had a problem with my prayer, where I refer to God as Goddess. I'm sure if I would've gotten called to that church that that moderator would've also had a problem with me not referring to God as he. But I don't think the spirit of God has a gender. So I refer to God as God. Or maybe sometimes as Goddess. Or maybe sometimes, as many of the other names for God, because there are many names for God. Although perhaps the best name for God is Spirit of Love.
There aren't many gods. There's only one God. That’s what Christians believe. Jews believe that too. So do Muslims. However, it can be confusing. If there's only one God, how can God be every place at once? Maybe that's why it's important to think of God as spirit. Because the spirit can be any place and every place all at once. That's why it's important to remember that another word for spirit is wind. And wind can be every place at once. Just like the spirit of God.
A rabbi prayed to God: God, make me like Abraham, and a voice came from heaven, “I already have one Abraham, I want you to be you.” God wants you to be you. And God wants me to be me. That’s always been hard for me. I always thought God wanted me to be Superman, or Mickey Mantel, or James Garner. No. God wants me to be me. God wants you to be you. God wants us to know that we are spiritual beings. And God want us to know that each person’s spirit is perfect, precious, and priceless. Just as we are. As our selves. Not as anyone else.
Why is it important that you know that you are a spiritual being? Because it means that you know that you have a piece of the divine within you. Because it means that you know that you are, in essence, a sacred being. Because it means that you know that at your core you are holy.
You were not born a sinner, you were born a spiritual being. You were not born a mistake, you were born a spiritual being. And you were not born needing to be fixed, you were born a spiritual being.
As a spiritual being you are worthy of the love of God. As a spiritual being you are worthy of the love of others. And as a spiritual being you are worthy of the love of your self.
As spiritual beings other people are worthy of the love of God. As spiritual beings other people are worthy of the love of others. And as spiritual beings other people are worthy of the love of them selves.
You are not your looks, you are your spirit. You are not your clothes, you are your spirit. You are not your car, you are your spirit. You are not your house, you are your spirit. You are not your job, you are your spirit. And you are not your bank account, you are your spirit. All else is just the trappings of life.
Be the person you were born to be. Live the life you were born to live. And follow the destiny you were born to follow.
Don't be the person that other people want you to be. Because other people may not know what’s in your heart. Other people may not know what’s in your mind. And other people may not know what’s in your soul. So be the spiritual being that you were born to be.
Nobody can stop you from achieving what you were meant to achieve. No body. Nothing can stop you from achieving what you were meant to achieve. No thing. Because you are a spiritual being. Like The Spirit. Like Jesus. Like God. And like the spirit of God that, I think, came to me when I was just 7-years-old.
Rev. Bill Freeman
October 11, 2020
Bill Freeman Ministries
I was seven years old, playing by myself in our front yard, when all of a sudden I didn't feel alone. I felt the presence of something. Or someone. Over the years I’ve thought: Was that God? Was that Jesus? Was that the Spirit? I think it might've been the spirit, maybe the spirit of God. All I know is, or at least all I think I know is, there's more than what we can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. That maybe there is some thing that we might call the Spirit.
Spirits may scare some people. They may think of alcoholic spirits, like demon rum, that causes people to drive drunk and crash their car into a telephone pole. They may think of evil spirits, that enter someone’s body and makes them do evil things, the kind of evil spirits that Jesus ordered out of someone, who then left him and entered some pigs, who jumped into a body of water and drowned. They may think of ghosts, not Casper the friendly ghost, but spooky ghosts that haunt a house. Although others might say, like Ghostbusters, “I ain’t afraid of no ghost.” I don’t think we have to be afraid of the spirit.
The reason we meditate for a minute or two during our Sunday Service is to give us a chance to be in touch with our spirit, the spirit, the spirit of God. Now, you can be in touch with your spirit, the spirit, the spirit of God any time, any where. But some times it’s helpful to set aside time, during church, during your personal time, during your bed time, to listen to your deepest self, your highest self, your wisest self. Just listen. And listen some more. And then listen some more. Listen for the spirit.
A woman told me, back when I had a radio talkshow many years ago, that parents have to break the spirit of a two-year-old or the two-year-old will grow up to be a spoiled brat. Maybe because my own daughter was about two years old at the time, but I was appalled by what that woman said. Parents aren't supposed to break the spirit of a two-year-old. Parents are supposed to lift up the spirit of a two-year-old. Parents are supposed to lift up the spirit of a 10-year-old. Parents are supposed to lift up the spirit of a 16-year-old. And parents are supposed to lift up the spirit of a 22-year-old.
I don't remember who that woman was that told me that. But I'd like to know how her two-year-old turned out. My two-year-old is now 28-years-old, she just graduated from Harvard Law School, and she just took the bar exam here in California. She’s not a spoiled brat. She's a good spirit.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while the spirit of God swept over the face of the waters.”
So, according to the Hebrew Scriptures, the Book of Genesis, the spirit, the spirit of God, has been with us since the beginning of time. And the spirit of God is over the face of the waters.
Maybe that's why people are drawn to the waters. To the oceans. To the lakes. To the rivers. Because they know that the spirit of God is there. I know, it's also because they can go surfing or swimming or fishing or boating there. And it's usually cooler near the water. But it's also dangerous sometimes. Sharks are in the oceans. (That's why I don't swim in the ocean. I swim in Lake Michigan, but not in the Pacific or the Atlantic. It’s not that I like my body all that much. But I do like my body without a chunk missing from it.) Hurricanes and typhoons and tsunamis attack people near the ocean. And yet people are drawn to the ocean. Could it be because on some level they know that the spirit of God is over the face of the waters?
The spirit of God, though, is not just over the face of the waters. The spirit of God is also over the face of the land. The spirit of God is over your face. The spirit of God is over and around and through everything too. And the spirit of God is in every thing, every place. The spirit of God is in the air that we breathe. And the spirit of God is in the wind in our hair. Another word for breath, in both Hebrew and Greek, is spirit. Another word for wind, in both Hebrew and Greek, is spirit. Isn’t that cool?
I asked a guy in his 90s: What's the secret of living a long life? He said, “Keep breathing.” But of course. We know the truth of that these days, because the coronavirus tries to take peoples breath away. Not like when you see the Grand Canyon and it takes your breath away. The coronavirus wants to take your breath away: Permanently. And so far, it has taken the breath away from more than 200,000 people in America. And apparently it took the breath away, at least temporarily, from the President of the United States.
We also know the truth of that these days, because sometimes white police officers try to take black peoples breath away. As they did in the case of George Floyd. With a cop’s knee on his neck, George Floyd’s dying words were: I can’t breathe. To put it another way: George Floyd was losing his breath, his spirit. And no one should be able to take another person’s breath or spirit away. Even if they are wearing a badge.
When it was evening on the first day of the week, after Jesus was crucified, according to the Gospel of John, the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews. So the disciples were in hiding, fearing that what happened to Jesus might happen to them. Then Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
So if we missed it in the Hebrew Scriptures, that the spirit of God is on the face of the waters, and is really every place else, then Jesus tells us in the Christian New Testament that the spirit of God is within us, and is really all around us.
We say, “We Nurture People In Body, Mind, And Soul.” We say that because we are all of a piece. Our body, mind, and soul are one. They combine to make up our essence, our being, our life. They combine to make up our spirit. Jesus knew that. That’s why he nurtured his disciples in body, mind, and soul. He nurtured them in body, by sharing with them the bread and the cup at The Lord’s Supper. He nurtured them in mind, by sharing with them his teachings. And he nurtured them in soul, by sharing with them the Holy Spirit.
Churches celebrate Communion, the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper because it nurtures people in Body, Mind, and Soul. Communion nurtures people in Body. It gives them food and drink for their Body. Communion nurtures people in Mind. It gets their Mind thinking about the life of Jesus. And Communion nurtures people in Soul. It connects their Soul with Jesus’ Spirit. So you can understand why churches celebrate communion, some every month, some every week. It has the potential to lift their body, mind, and soul to higher purpose, to higher meaning, to higher ground.
Why did Jesus institute Communion? Perhaps because Jesus wanted people to know that our Body, Mind, and Soul are one. Perhaps because Jesus wanted people to know that Communion is all about community. And perhaps because Jesus wanted people to know that Communion, the nurturing of our Body, Mind, and Soul, can lead to community, our common unity. Which can lift our spirit, each of our spirits, to heights we can only imagine. Maybe each time churches celebrate communion, people hear the voice of Jesus saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a Jesuit priest and a French philosopher from the last century, says, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” That's one of my favorite quotes. Because in a nutshell that describes who we are. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
Have you ever felt filled with the spirit? When we hear stories of people who do superhuman things, like a father lifting up a car off of his child caught underneath the vehicle, science would probably say that that father was filled with adrenaline, so he could do that superhuman feat. But the religious would probably say that that father was filled with the spirit, so he could do that miraculous feat. Maybe it's a combination of the two.
You can't see the spirit. Just like you can't see love. But that doesn't mean that love is nonexistent. And it also doesn't mean that the spirit is nonexistent. Love makes us do things, hopefully good things. So love is a verb. It's an action word. In the same way, the spirit makes us do things, hopefully good things. So the spirit is a verb. It's an action word.
Maybe love and the spirit are two sides of the same coin. After all, Jesus says God is spirit, and the Bible says God is love. That's why I usually begin my prayers by saying…Let us lift our spirit —Spirit of Love known by many names: God and Goddess, Yahweh and Allah, Dios and Divine, Nature and Life.
I applied at a church once whose moderator was fairly fundamentalist. And that might be an understatement. He had a problem with my prayer, where I refer to God as Goddess. I'm sure if I would've gotten called to that church that that moderator would've also had a problem with me not referring to God as he. But I don't think the spirit of God has a gender. So I refer to God as God. Or maybe sometimes as Goddess. Or maybe sometimes, as many of the other names for God, because there are many names for God. Although perhaps the best name for God is Spirit of Love.
There aren't many gods. There's only one God. That’s what Christians believe. Jews believe that too. So do Muslims. However, it can be confusing. If there's only one God, how can God be every place at once? Maybe that's why it's important to think of God as spirit. Because the spirit can be any place and every place all at once. That's why it's important to remember that another word for spirit is wind. And wind can be every place at once. Just like the spirit of God.
A rabbi prayed to God: God, make me like Abraham, and a voice came from heaven, “I already have one Abraham, I want you to be you.” God wants you to be you. And God wants me to be me. That’s always been hard for me. I always thought God wanted me to be Superman, or Mickey Mantel, or James Garner. No. God wants me to be me. God wants you to be you. God wants us to know that we are spiritual beings. And God want us to know that each person’s spirit is perfect, precious, and priceless. Just as we are. As our selves. Not as anyone else.
Why is it important that you know that you are a spiritual being? Because it means that you know that you have a piece of the divine within you. Because it means that you know that you are, in essence, a sacred being. Because it means that you know that at your core you are holy.
You were not born a sinner, you were born a spiritual being. You were not born a mistake, you were born a spiritual being. And you were not born needing to be fixed, you were born a spiritual being.
As a spiritual being you are worthy of the love of God. As a spiritual being you are worthy of the love of others. And as a spiritual being you are worthy of the love of your self.
As spiritual beings other people are worthy of the love of God. As spiritual beings other people are worthy of the love of others. And as spiritual beings other people are worthy of the love of them selves.
You are not your looks, you are your spirit. You are not your clothes, you are your spirit. You are not your car, you are your spirit. You are not your house, you are your spirit. You are not your job, you are your spirit. And you are not your bank account, you are your spirit. All else is just the trappings of life.
Be the person you were born to be. Live the life you were born to live. And follow the destiny you were born to follow.
Don't be the person that other people want you to be. Because other people may not know what’s in your heart. Other people may not know what’s in your mind. And other people may not know what’s in your soul. So be the spiritual being that you were born to be.
Nobody can stop you from achieving what you were meant to achieve. No body. Nothing can stop you from achieving what you were meant to achieve. No thing. Because you are a spiritual being. Like The Spirit. Like Jesus. Like God. And like the spirit of God that, I think, came to me when I was just 7-years-old.
